Vitalyst Spark

E134: AHCCCS and KidsCare

In March, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services approved AHCCCS's expansion of KidsCare eligibility to 225% of the federal poverty level, up from the earlier 200% cap. KidsCare will now allow kids whose parents make too much to qualify for Medicaid but less than 225% of the poverty line, which is right around $70,200 for a family of four, to pay an affordable premium for quality Medicaid (AHCCCS) coverage. Today’s conversation focuses on how Arizonans can connect to KidsCare and other resources to receive the healthcare coverage they need for their families.

 

Links

Cover Arizona Coalition KidsCare page

AHCCCS KidsCare page

Alliance of Arizona Community Health Center’s Outreach & Enrollment Page

Children’s Action Alliance Advocacy & Outreach page
AHCCCS Map of Uninsured Hotspots

E133: The Arizona Emerging Leaders Network in Action: Raising Special Kids

In episode 130, we spent time with Sara Gonzalez, Belen Gonzalez, and Melia Dunn, talking about the Arizona Emerging Leaders Network and its origins and evolution. Now, we get to sit with one of the executive directors who was part of the Emerging Leaders Network. Chris Tiffany, Executive Director of Raising Special Kids, sat down with Melia Dunn and me and shared very candidly what a personal and organizational DEI journey can be—from victories to struggles.

Links

Raising Special Kids Website: https://raisingspecialkids.org/

Arizona Emerging Leaders Event Page: https://hexagon-sawfish-wahp.squarespace.com/azeml-learningseries

E132: Tucson: Mental Health Integration within Emergency Response

Our ongoing series looking into local emergency response practices, Arizona First Responder Systems and Mental Health Integration Spark Brief author Matt Eckhoff, hosted a conversation with Sharon McDonough, Director, Public Safety Communications Department, City of Tucson; Ana Corcoran, Administrator at Public Safety Communications Department, City of Tucson; and Amy Devins, Director, First Responder Services and Urgent Engagement, Arizona Complete Health, to learn more about Tucson's emergency response network.

E131: Arizona Housing Coalition and Veterans StandDown

Here at Vitalyst, one of our programmatic priorities is to support statewide housing initiatives along the spectrum of housing types. The past few years, this has meant a lot of capacity building for organizations, whether that is schools or, more recently, churches, to explore creating housing options for members of our community. This also means we collaborate with a lot of partners, including the Arizona Housing Coalition. George Campbell and Jamie Podratz from the Coalition joined us for a conversation to learn more about their work and initiatives.

 

Links

Arizona Housing Coalition - Arizona Housing Coalition (azhousingcoalition.org)

Arizona Veterans StandDown Alliance - Arizona Housing Coalition (azhousingcoalition.org)

Grant and Per Diem Program - VA Homeless Programs

Supportive Services for Veteran Families (va.gov)

Temporary and Permanent Supportive Housing Solutions for Veterans (usvets.org)

Tucson Veterans Serving Veterans - Meeting the needs of Vets since 2003

E130: The Arizona Emerging Leaders Network

The Arizona Emerging Leadership Network is a statewide network of emerging leaders willing to invest time, talent, and treasure in recognizing the need for diverse and safe spaces to Convene around shared Diversity, Equity, and inclusion (DEI) values. Participants capacity as Emerging leaders in Arizona have been built to work more intentionally and equitably supports communities and leaders to transformational change.

 

Links:

• AZEML Learning Series Events Website

May Workshop:

• Eventbrite Registration Page

E129: Implementing Effective Community-Specific Alternate Response Strategies and Collaborations

In this candid conversation, Matt Eckoff, Author of the Arizona First Responder Systems and Mental Health Integration Spark Brief, speaks with Captain Seth Gregar of the City of Flagstaff Fire Department and Bryan Gest and Brad Mattingly of Terros Health as they discuss the past two years since the City of Flagstaff's Community Alliance Response and Engagement (CARE) program was implemented. Learn more about how the program works and what challenges and opportunities they see as others may implement similar programs.

 

Links

Arizona First Responder Systems and Mental Health Integration - Vitalyst Health

Coconino Voices: Terros Health and City of Flagstaff expand partnership to pay dividends for community | Columnists | azdailysun.com

E128: ¿Qué es el Patrocinio Fiscal y qué hace TAPAZ por los proyectos patrocinados?

This episode is completely in Spanish and provides an overview of the Technical Assistance Partnership of Arizona. To listen to a similar podcast in English, click here.

 

Hoy es un día especial – es nuestro primer episodio del podcast completamente en español. Tenemos a un invitado que ya ha estado con nosotros en el podcast. Hoy nos acompaña Juan Salas, director de Operaciones y Contabilidad de la Asociación de Asistencia Técnica de Arizona, o Technical Assistance Partnership (TAPAZ) en Ingles. Vamos a hablar sobre que es TAPAZ; que es el patrocinio fiscal y para cuales organizaciones es útil, y terminaremos con los servicios que provee TAPAZ.

 

Links: www.tapaz.org

E127: Inclusive Voting in Arizona & Health Implications

This episode features some of the civic leaders working to strengthen democracy and civic life in Arizona and shows the intersection of civic engagement and health. It’s an election year, and Arizona is again at the epicenter. Let’s get the facts and explore how all registered voters could and should be voting in all elections – including primary elections, and why it all matters to the health of Arizonans, our state, and our American democracy.  

 

Links:

Why Primaries Matter and What to Do About It Spark Report

Strengthening Civic Health in Arizona Spark Report

Maricopa County Elections and Voter Registration information

Arizona Secretary of State Register / Update to Vote

Healthy Democracy Healthy People

Health and Democracy Index

Arizona Town Hall  

E126: What is Fiscal Sponsorship and What Does TAPAZ Do for Sponsored Projects?

If you have been listening to the Vitalyst Spark Podcast or are a subscriber to our Vitalyst Spark News, you have likely heard us talk about our affiliate organization, the Technical Assistance Partnership of Arizona. On today’s episode, we talk to Kelsey Otten, Assistant Director, Partner Engagement, Vitalyst Health Foundation and the Technical Assistance Partnership of Arizona, to learn more about fiscal sponsorship and the services offered by TAPAZ.

 

Links:

www.tapaz.org

National Network of Fiscal Sponsors Field Scan 2023 Report

E125: Legislative Outlook & Policy Updates

The legislative session is in full swing.  We recently spoke with Vitalyst Trustee and Executive Director of the Arizona Public Health Association, Will Humble, Vitalyst’s Gabriel Jaramillo and Ana Roscetti. Their conversation explores some potential bills and proposed policy updates.

 

Links: Will’s Blog

Vitalyst Legislative Priorities

www.azcarecheck.com